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As you all know, not all Canucks fans reside in Lotusland (Vancouver), but there are some fans in certain parts of the world you wouldn’t think could be Canucks fans. Dominador Martin is a Canucks fan who lives in Illinois, Blackhawks territory. He has graciously allowed me to share his Canucks fandom story and we had a little Q&A on how someone who lives just outside of Chicago, and was born there, could rock the blue and Kelly green of the Vancouver Canucks in public and have love for them in his heart.

Name: Dominador Erwin Martin V (yes, the fifth!)

Born: May 29, 1977, Chicago, IL

Dominador Martin V is an avid Canucks fan who lives just outside of Chicago. Surrounded by Blackhawk colours, he bleeds green and blue.

JG: How long have you been cheering on the Vancouver Canucks?

DEM: I have been cheering on the Vancouver Canucks since the beginning of the 2007-08 season. Before that season I have sporadically followed the Canucks since the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.

JG: Who is currently your favourite player, and why?

DEM: This is really a tough one, because I don’t have just one favorite. All team members, in my opinion have shown that they can make a great impact for the team this season. But if I had to completely choose ONE favorite, it would have to be The Sedins because of their longevity with the team.

JG: Living just outside of Chicago, what is it like cheering on the Vancouver Canucks?

DEM: For me, it’s such an adrenaline rush, knowing that I represent a pure and proud Canuck fan, even while living in Illinois and being buried in a sea of red jerseys at the UC during Canucks-Hawks games.

JG: How do most of the Blackhawks fans treat you?

DEM: Most Blackhawks fans that I know have been really respectful towards me. However, there have been a few, though not many, instances where I was walking down the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois and I get heckled wearing my Canucks gear. For instance, once I was walking towards one of my Psychology classes wearing my Luongo jersey and I had one or two drunk hecklers, wearing their Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane jerseys, come up to me and tell me that the Canucks suck and wanted to fight me. So I just told them to get a breath mint. Campus security had to actually arrest them for being drunken and disorderly.But all in all, all of my Blackhawk-loving friends have been really cool and respectful to me.

JG: Do you go to United Center to watch any of the Canucks/Blackhawks games?

DEM: The last game I went to was on December 20th of last year, in which our beloved Canucks won in a shootout vs the Chicago Blackhawks at the UC. Eddie Lack was in between the pipes that night, and Ryan Kesler had the winning shootout goal. Prior to the December game of last year, I went to the game on March 21, 2012, Canucks overtime loss to Chicago at the UC. Roberto Luongo was in net that night.

JG: Being of Filipino background, the culture loves the sport of basketball, how did hockey turn your attention and win your love for the sport?

DEM: You also forgot to mention our love for the sport of boxing (Manny Pacquiao)…..lol.

JG: Haha! Of course, Manny Pacquiao, and he won again last night!

DEM: All sports aside, this is a little bit of a story that I love to tell because I have an older cousin who lives in Langley, British Columbia and several years ago, back in the fall of 2007 to be exact, my cousin came to visit my family and I for about two weeks and I fell in love with the sport from there.

JG: You’ve mentioned in previous conversations on twitter and Facebook you have relatives in Vancouver, and now I know they have influenced you to be a Canucks fan. How did that happen?

DEM: I believe it was a Saturday night, October 6th of 2007. I happen to be watching TV when my cousin walked in and asked if she could join me. So we were watching TV together and she asked if I could switch to the NHL Network. So as we were watching the Canucks play the Calgary Flames that night at the Saddledome. I asked my cousin if she was an NHL fan. She responded by saying that she loves the Canucks, and as a gift to me, I received an RBK Premier Canuck jersey (with no players name). As we were watching the game together, I had asked some questions about the players themselves since a lot of them were new to me. As the game went on, I wanted to keep watching the game to see what was going on. The puck movements, puck handling skills, speed, the strategy, the shootouts, are awesome to watch. That night, the Canucks won in OT vs. Calgary and I became a fan of the Canucks and then I fell in love with the game of hockey.

JG: Have you ever seen the Canucks play at Rogers Arena?

DEM: I have never attended a Rogers Arena game, which is something that I want to do and cross off my personal bucket list. From what I have seen on televised games, Rogers Arena always looked packed, and I want to be a part of it, the next time I visit British Columbia for a game.

JG: Have you visited our fair city ?

DEM: My cousin, who visited me,her husband and their three kids live out in Langley, BC. And yeah they are all Canucks fans.. I have visited the beautiful city of Vancouver back during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. Although I wish I could have seen the games live and in-person in Vancouver. I returned home the day before the 2011 Stanley Cup riots.

JG: Where you do see the team finishing in the standings this season and who are the key players to put them at your prediction point?

DEM: This is a great question. I see us also finishing in the top ten, if not, top five, in the league, with the group of guys we have now. With guys like Linden Vey, Zack Kassian, Ryan Miller, The Sedins, Nick Bonino, Alex Burrows, Alex Edler, Luca Sbisa and if they can add in one, who I think is a dark horse pick, if he is called up from Utica…it is Hunter Shinkaruk, And of course there is always ‘Juice’ Kevin Bieksa

JG: So far, what do you think of the young guys, Vey, Kassian, and Bo Horvat?

DEM: Linden Vey and Bo Horvat……untapped potential. They would look great on any line. Since the February 2012 trade that sent Cody Hodgson to Buffalo for Zack Kassian, Kass is starting to show he can be a proven commodity for the Canucks.

JG: What did you think of what happened last season? The Torts meltdown, the downward spiral of the Canucks season and the falling out between the Canucks and Ryan Kesler?

DEM: Torts who? ……haha…..Just kidding. As far as John Tortorella goes, I respect him as a Stanley Cup-winning coach, but in retrospect, his style didn’t mesh with the Canucks system, period.

JG: I understand that. Gillis created something good, but didn’t keep progressing on it. Moving on… If you could spend a day with one Canucks player, who would it be and why?

DEM: Excellent question. I think maybe I’d like to spend a day with either Daniel or Henrik Sedin, to see what their lives are like outside of the NHL and hockey. I’d like to see how much and what they do in and around the city of Vancouver. How their off-ice work that helps them be an integral part of the Canucks team successes.

JG: Besides the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup, what is a Canucks related bucket list you’d like to share with us?

DEM: They have accomplished everything that needs to be accomplished except bring home Lord Stanley. That’s all.

Canucks Fan For Life…..case closed.

JG: Thank you, Dominador. Hopefully, the Canucks can fulfill that bucket list item for you and for all the other Canucks fans around the world.

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Fun Facts about Dominador Martin: He is a 2013 graduate from Eastern Illinois University, with a Psychology degree and a focus on Clinical Psychology. Since 1998, he is martial arts instructor in Champaign, IL in the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do, and is a 4th degree black belt. In his spare time, he is also a profesional part-time DJ. Pretty diverse isn’t he?

“Don’t mess with me Blackhawks fans, I’m a 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do!” Dominador Martin is a Canucks fan in Land of the Blackhawks.

During last season’s grueling run to the Stanley Cup Finals a new post game show was born at CBC Vancouver called Seeking Stanley. The show, featuring hosts Shane Foxman and Karin Larsen, returns for another playoff run and will begin this Saturday, March 3rd following Hockey Night in Canada’s After Hours. The original airings will be a half hour show running from 10:30 to 11:00pm and promises to give Canucks fans extra coverage of things they normally don’t see on the highlights each evening.

We had chance to chat to Shane and Karin about the show, the social media components to it and what fans can expect from this year’s show.

CanucksCorner.com:Like the Canucks, Seeking Stanley on CBC had a long run in last year’s playoffs. This year you are starting things a little earlier, so what can we expect for this year’s season of the program and why the earlier start this year?

KL: The earlier start is due to a perfect storm of scheduling of the Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada. Seeking Stanley has always piggy backed off “the big show”, using the resources (cameras, video feeds, personnel) that Hockey Night has in place. Plus after an eight and a half month absence, it made sense to get the show out there early to remind people.

Seeking Stanley’s primary objective is to provide bonus Canucks TV coverage, take the viewer behind the scenes, in the dressing room, coaches presser etc. Whereas Hockey Night is a national show that covers the games from a much broader perspective – we only care about the Canucks and our aim is to bring that local story to the BC fans.

CanucksCorner.com: I think it’s safe to say that most fans were exhausted by the end of the finals last year. Can the same be said for the media, who may not be as emotionally invested, but certainly face hectic schedules as part of their job?

SF: Absolutely. By the time we got to the Stanley Cup Final we were exhausted. It wasn’t the 14 hour days, it was the travel. Leave the rink in Boston at 1 am… you need to unwind…flight for Vancouver leaves at 6 am (You have to get up at 4). Not complaining though, it was an unbelievable experience.

CanucksCorner.com: Have you ever thought of having a social media component on the show? Perhaps have some local bloggers and Twitter personalities participate in a social media roundtable with the hosts?

KL: We hadn’t thought of that specific application of social media in the show. We will have a social media twitter component in the show this year. It’s still being worked out and will probably evolve as the show progresses.

CanucksCorner.com: Sticking with social media for a bit, have you considered holding a live “Tweetup” taping for Seeking Stanley or perhaps something like a town forum environment?

KL: A tweetup may be in our future. One of the reasons we hosted a media and blogger launch on Wednesday is because we recognize the importance of social media to engage and interact with our audience. Social media, particularly Twitter, is flooded with Canucks posts all the time and when there’s a game, the Canucks and hockey related keywords are consistently trending. It’s what people are talking about. We want to make sure we are a big part of that online experience.

CanucksCorner.com: Will the show be active during games and post game on Twitter and Facebook? Fans should follow the hashtag #SeekingStanley, correct?

SF: Yes, as far as the Hashtag goes we’ll be using #seekingstanley, and yes, we will be active on twitter during the games and during Seeking Stanley. We want to be as interactive as we can.

CanucksCorner.com: Last season, Cliff Ronning was a guest on Seeking Stanley. Will he be back or will you incorporate more Canucks alumni this season?

SF: Cliff Ronning will be back. Not only can Cliff tell us what it is like “in the room”, he also was part of the Canucks’ magical 1994 run. He knows what it’s like to play in game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. That perspective is invaluable.

CanucksCorner.com: What makes Seeking Stanley different from other Canucks focused shows?

SF: Access. Because the games are broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada, it gives us a great opportunity to take viewers were they seldom get to go. In the locker room, but not just for a 10 second sound bite of a player… we will let the viewers see and hear the entire conversation between reporters and players… we run the coaches’ post game news conferences in their entirety, so viewers feel like they are in the room.

CanucksCorner.com: Finally, a prediction: Will the Canucks finally find Stanley, after seeking for all these years?

KL: As a born and raised Vancouverite, dear god I hope so.

SF: If not this year, when?

Our thanks to Karin Larsen and Shane Foxman for chatting with us about Seeking Stanley.

When: Following every Canucks Saturday HNIC broadcast and Canucks playoff games, starting March 3rd at 10:30pm